Wild Willow Art Club: Autumn Lantern-Making

This seasonal lantern-making workshop invites children to explore the playful and imaginative themes of Halloween, Samhain, and Día de los Muertos. These festivals, which celebrate the transition from light to dark and life to death, offer children a fun way to engage with the supernatural, spirits, and the cycles of life. Through crafting their own lanterns, children can tap into their creativity while learning about these meaningful traditions.

The session begins with a guided tour of OmVed Gardens, where children will observe seasonal changes and gather dried materials to use in their lantern-making. Using jam jars, sticks, paints, and translucent papers, they’ll create their own glowing masterpieces to parade around the garden at dusk.

This hands-on activity encourages children to explore light, colour, and the beauty of the changing season, while adding personal touches like spooky elements and decorations. Not only will they take home their unique lanterns, but they’ll also connect with nature and celebrate the seasonal shift in a fun, creative way.

To wrap up, we’ll visit the compost area to learn about maintaining a balanced compost and why it needs a mix of "greens" (nitrogen-rich) and "browns" (carbon-rich) materials.

The Wild Willow Art Club is designed for children aged 6 to 12, with each child requiring an accompanying adult. Sessions will take place both indoors and outdoors, so please dress children comfortably in clothes that can get messy with art materials. The garden can be cold or muddy, so layers and sturdy footwear are recommended.

There is a maximum group size of up to 16 attendees for our willow art sessions.

Photo by Alex Simpson on Unsplash

3 Top Skills Children Will Learn

• Design & Material Exploration:
  Enhancing creativity and problem-solving by using a range of natural and recycled materials to design their own unique lanterns.
  

• Cultural Awareness:
  Discovering the traditions of Halloween, Samhain, and Día de los Muertos, fostering an appreciation for diverse cultural celebrations and their meaningful connections to life’s cycles.

• Craftsmanship:
  Building fine motor skills and attention to detail by learning lantern-making techniques, including assembly, decoration, and transforming materials into functional art.

About the host:

Corrie Wingate is an artist and arts facilitator based in North London.

After traveling across Africa as a documentary photographer and developing a passion for community arts, she founded Kids Create Kenya, an art centre and artist residency at a children’s home on Lamu Island. Now in its 11th year, the centre provides a creative space where children and young adults can express themselves through art.

Since 2020, Corrie has been part of the garden and kitchen team at Omved, where she now facilitates nature-based art programs for children and adults, helping others connect with creativity and the natural world.

@corriewingate @kidscreatekenya

About OmVed Gardens:

OmVed Gardens is a garden, exhibition, events, and learning space in North London dedicated to exploring the connections between food, ecology and creativity for health and climate resilience. We are on a mission to inspire ecological awareness and action, and deepen our understanding of interconnectedness with the natural world.

As a registered Community Interest Company, all our activities prioritise social and ecological objectives. Whether collaborating with chefs, creatives, gardeners, or schools, OmVed Gardens is a hub for education, connection, and action. We aim to inspire individuals and communities to reimagine their role in building a healthier, more resilient world.

We work to increase biodiversity - of species, seeds, food systems, and participation, through regenerative gardening, seed saving, habitat creation, and ecological education. Our space serves as a living example of how urban areas can be transformed into thriving ecosystems that support both human and non-human communities.

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Subsidised Tickets:

We have a few reserved tickets at a subsidised rate. If this workshop is not monetarily accessible, please write to us at events@omvedgardens.com to avail yourself of a subsidised ticket rate. Subject to availability.

Refund Policy: Tickets are non-refundable, except in cases where a waiting list exists for the session. If the event is sold out, a refund may be considered if requested up to 10 days prior to the session date. Please write to us for any refund inquiries.